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by This_ape_writes



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Gratuitous use of the word Darlin, M/M, accidental drug use maybe?, fluffy fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-20
Updated: 2017-01-20
Packaged: 2018-09-18 19:14:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9399038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/This_ape_writes/pseuds/This_ape_writes
Summary: Something is making half the crew on the Enterprise high as a kite. Bones is affected and Jim isn't.OrThis is so fluffy and then it gets worse.





	

"Captain." 

"Kinda have my hands full here if..." 

"I believe the doctor is beginning to show...symptoms." 

Jim sighs. And removes the hands that are grabbing at his shirt to firmly push them back toward their owner. He straightens his shirt back into its rightful place and sighs as he heads to the lab. He taps his comm badge as he heads into the hallway. 

"I'm on my way," he says. 

When the doors whoosh open several minutes later he is met with an exasperated Vulcan and a CMO with his arms folded across his chest, eyes closed, drawing in very long and slow breaths as he stands in the center of the room. 

"What's he doing?" Jim asks as the door shuts behind him only to have his first officer reach out and open it immediately back up. 

"I do not know. He has been acting odd for several minutes now. I have samples. I will begin work on my own. If you require..." 

"Yeah no I'll be ok. Thank you," Jim says. The door shuts again behind him and he turns to fully face Bones. He is still standing, shoulders loose, mouth slightly open, drawing in long breaths with his back still turned toward Jim. 

So far he wasn't acting quite like the rest of the crew has. But then again he's never seen Bones high as a kite before either. Drunk sure, more times than he can count. But he just gets overly weepy when he gets too far gone with that. 

Maybe this is how he reacts when he's high. 

"Bones?" he says, hesitant to reach out and touch him just yet until he can assess the situation. 

"'M fine," he says in a long slow drawl. 

"You sure 'bout that?" Jim asks and he hopes he can hear his smile. Bones nods his head and opens his eyes to stare at Jim. 

"Mmhmm. I thought I was gettin' whatever this is. But I'm good," he says. And his mouth drips open wide into a giant grin. 

Jim chuckles. Ok. Bones is grinning like an idiot in the middle of a mild crisis. 

Not normal. 

"Ok. Well I'm not sure you're quite as good as you think," he says as he holds his hands up and walks a step or two in his direction slowly. Bones smile morphs into a look of curiosity. And then a look of fascination as Jim walks closer. 

"Yeah?" He asks. "Why're you sayin' that Darlin'?" 

Jim grins. 

"Well you were just grinning like an idiot and now you just called me Darlin'. You never spontaneously do either of those things. You might be just slightly affected," Jim says as he reaches out to put his hands on Bones' arms. The touch causes his arms to unfold from across his chest and he drops them to his sides slowly as he frowns. 

"I can't be affected I gotta fix this," he says in a soft voice that's just barely not a whisper. 

"Well you don't really have a choice in the matter," Jim says. He tries to smile so Bones will feel reassured but Bones' face suddenly looks confused. 

"I call you Darlin'. Maybe I'm fine," he says. 

"Well. Yeah. You do. But really only in the middle of sex. And that's not happening right now so it's a little out of character," Jim says. "Also you are petting my face," he adds. 

Bones looks at his fingers with wide eyes like they have betrayed his trust in them and pulls them back to his side. 

"Ok maybe," he says. "'M sorry."

"Stop it. Don't apologize. You can't help it any more than anyone else on this ship can. We'll figure out how to off set it or it'll wear off. It's ok. Spock's working on it right now. You can just...". 

"No. No I need to help," Bones says suddenly drawing in a deep breath through his nose. He shakes his head and frowns as he nods at Jim. "I'll be..." but his face melts into a look of complete awe. And his fingers are back on Jim's cheek again. 

"Ok look I'll help we'll try and figure this out. Why...why don't you sit down over here and just give yourself a minute," Jim says. 

"You're...so pretty," Bones says in what is absolutely a whisper now and Jim sighs. He's a man of extraordinary patience but he's been wrangling his crew for the last hour like an over worked mom with several hundred toddlers. 

Now Bones? 

Granted not everyone on board was affected. Only about half were so he wasn't doing this alone. But of course he feels responsible so he's been helping longer than he should. And he's tired now dammit.

So he can't really be blamed for pulling Bones' hands away for a second time and sighing a little too harshly. 

Bones looks wounded so Jim rolls his eyes and tries to play nice. 

"Thanks. That's...very nice. Sit," he says. Bones allows himself to be pushed toward one of the closest chairs in the lab but he is staring over his shoulder as he goes with a miserable look on his face. 

"You don't believe me," Bones says as he lets Jim guide him so he's sitting. 

"At the moment? No," he chuckles but it has no real humor in it. 

"But...you are. Look at you. You're gorgeous," Bones insists as he reaches up to run his fingers through Jim's hair. 

"Sure," Jim says with another laugh as he leans out of Bones' reach to grab a chair for himself as he settles in across from him. 

Bones looks stricken. 

"Why is this funny?" he asks. Jim runs his hand through his hair to put it back into place and he reaches over to grab Bones' wrist. 

"I'm sorry. It's not really. It's just...when you're back to normal you're gonna be embarrassed," Jim says with a small smile. Bones frowns. 

"Why?" he asks. "I'm tellin' the truth."

 

"Can we? Can we just focus on trying to..." 

Bones sucks in a deep breath that sounds like something has startled him and when Jim looks up he's gotten to his feet and he's shaking his head. 

"You don't know how much I adore you, do you!" Jim closes his eyes and sighs. 

His patience is so done. 

"Of course I do it's..."

"No!" Bones says and Jim finds himself being yanked to his feet and hugged before he can stop it. 

"Jesus, Bones,"he mutters as the hug knocks the air out of his lungs. A hand is back in his hair petting him like a puppy but Jim doesn't have the energy to fight it. He relaxes against Bones' shoulder and shakes his head. 

"I know you love me Bones stop panicking," he says as he smiles. 

"No...I don't ever tell you how incredible you are do I?" Bones says. 

"Not using that particular word no. It's usually "you're an idiot"," Jim laughs. 

Bones gasps again like he's been stabbed in the chest and he fumbles back a few steps. Jim's eyes go wide and he reaches out to catch him but he manages to drop into the chair he was in before and he covers his face with his hands. 

"No! No no no, com'ere," Bones says and Jim is yanked and trips and braces his arms but is unsuccessful at keeping his balance as Bones knocks him into his lap. 

"Ok. Look Doctor McCoy you are really gonna..." but Bones shuts him up by kissing him. Hard. "Ow," he murmurs from behind crushed lips, but it falls into a laugh as he sighs and gives up and just goes with it. He lets Bones kiss him for several minutes. And in any other circumstance it would be nice. But Jim can't shake feeling like he's taking advantage of him. So when Bones moves on to kissing over to his ear and then down the right side of his neck down to his collar bone Jim tries his best to get control. "Bones I'm really not kidding. When this wears off you are gonna be so pissed." 

"I'm already pissed," he murmurs as he kisses his way to Jim's other collar bone. 

"You are?" Jim asks with a chuckle. 

"Mhmm. Shouldn't take whatever this is for you to know how happy you make me." 

"Jesus Bones. I'm fine I don't need constant reassurances," Jim mutters. Bones shakes his head and his hair tickles Jim's nose as he moves. Jim roughly reaches up to scratch it as Bones looks up at him and frowns. 

"Yes you do," he says. And Jim laughs at that. 

"Ok. Fine. I do. But it's ok. I know you. I've known you for nine long years. I don't expect you to change who you are. I'm fine. I know you love me. Really," Jim says. 

Bones looks at him for a bit like he's really trying to understand what Jim is saying. He glances at different spots across his face and reaches up to slide his first and middle fingers into his hair that falls across his forehead and slides it over his ear back with the rest of his hair. 

"But you really do make me so happy," Bones says. 

Jim snorts. 

"Ok lowered inhibitions are one thing but now you're just lying," he says with a chuckle. Bones soberly shakes his head. 

"It's not a lie. I'm so happy with you," he says. 

"Bones really stop it, you're never happy you're miserable," Jim says. But his comm interrupts them before he can continue. 

"Captain?" 

"Yes," Jim answers. 

"We have a small problem we could use your help with in engineering?" 

"Yeah Scotty what is it?" Jim ask. 

"Eh...well. It's Mr. Chekhov sir. He's barricaded himself inside one of the Jeffries tubes with a phaser. Keeps uh, asking ta...pet your hair specifically and stunning anyone that's not you that gets too close." 

"Oh my god. Ok fine. I'll be right there." He shakes his head and stands up and Bones just watches him quietly. "You gonna be alright if I leave you here?" he asks, not entirely convinced yet that Bones has any clue what's going on 

"Of course Jim. I'm fine. I'll wait here and try and focus. Maybe I'll...eek out an answer to this thing." The smile he gives him is a sad one and Jim feels weird about the whole exchange but can't really dwell on that too long as he nods and heads to engineering to see what he can do. 

It takes another half hour before Spock comms him with a solution. 

Sugar, of all damn things seems to counteract the drug in everyone's system. 

The news, however, has rotten timing as it comes in with a chirp as he is wedged in a Jeffries tube behind Chekhov who swings wildly at he sound over his shoulder and punches Jim in the eye. 

Now it's two hours later. 

He wants nothing more than to be home with an ice pack and sleeping but he's on the bridge getting everything sorted back out and to help figure out how to make up for the entire day that's now been wasted. 

He hardly even looks up from the navigational information on the PADD in his lap when the door behind him slides open and Bones strolls on to the bridge. He nods at few people at their stations who look up and nod back as he heads straight for Jim. 

He hands him over a tricorder and Jim frowns at it, confused. 

"Bones what..."

"Can you scan me please? And make sure I don't have any more of that stuff in my system?" He asks. Jim frowns up at him. 

"Bones can't someone in medbay..." 

"Please?" He asks. And Jim shrugs. 

"Ok," he says. He tips the contraption sideways and frowns at the button but turns it on. He runs it over Bones until it beeps in confirmation and then holds it up with his eyebrows raised and turns it so Bones can see too. "Says you're clean," he says. 

"Ok good," he says and takes it back from him to set it on the ground by their feet. He takes a deep breath and shoves his hands in his pockets and Jim raises and eyebrow at him, confused. "Do you remember our second year at the academy, and the Holidays before we were officially dating when we were just... whatever we were?" 

"Yeah I took you home to meet my mom," he says. "Bones what's going on..." 

"Just hang with me for a bit Darlin'," he says. Jim blinks and feels his eyes go wide at the casual term of endearment that's just been tossed his way and he frowns. He notices the few people that are on the bridge around then are starting to talk more quietly at their stations but Bones takes another breath and starts to walk around him. "Now I kinda had the feeling I was startin' to fall for you already before I agreed to go and meet your family. You should know that up front. 

The thing was I didn't want to fall for you. I was terrified. Bein' left was just still too fresh still in my mind," he says. "But I remember we walked into the house and you introduced me to your mom and before I could tell her it was nice to meet her and let her give me a hug I made the mistake of looking at your face."

"Bones..." Jim warns but he has no idea what he's actually warning him about so he eyes him and listens. 

"And god it was incredible. You were beamin' at me like you were so fucking proud to be next to me in the room. Like I was absolutely perfect and you couldn't believe I was there with you. Your eyes were flashing and it caught me so off guard I...I don't think I said anything to your mom at all. She just hugged me and asked me if she could take my coat and I just stood there dumbfounded staring at you like an idiot until you blushed and looked at your shoes."

"I don't remember doing that," Jim admits. 

And Bones smiles. 

"You did," he says. "Well I was all flustered and confused. So I ignored it like the oh so functioning adult that I absolutely was not at that time, and I got swept up into meeting everyone in your family and being dragged away from you and having Grammy Kirk pinch my butt." 

"Can you blame her Bones," Jim says with teasing grin at that statement and he glances around to see almost no one is working around them anymore. 

"It was sexual harassment, but no. I can't. I have a great ass," he says and Jim snorts. "But Jim that was just the beginning. It was like a tiny little blue flame was starting to flick to life in my chest." 

"That's a nice visual," Jim says. 

"Thanks Darlin' it is a story after all I need to make it sound pretty," Bones says "Now where was I..."

"Grammy Kirks sexual harassment," Uhura says over their shoulders and Bones nods at her and points as he continues to walk in a circle around the captains chair. Jim watches him out of the corner of his eye when he walks behind him and resists the urge to spin his chair so he can keep him completely in sight. 

"That's right. Thank you Nyota. So then we had your family's version of Hanukkah dinner. And god that just made it so much worse. I watched you dive into helping cook and set things down on the table. Someone handed you their baby who was screaming and you hushed them right up and made them laugh with that famous Jim Kirk charm us mortals have no immunity for. 

You propped the kid on your hip while you just kept moving. You made mashed potatoes and laughed with your mom. I think you even opened a bottle of wine for your step dad with one free hand when he couldn't get the cork to catch."

"Bones what...". 

"Shhh," he says softly and Jim closes his mouth as Bones walks around to his left side. He trails a finger along his arm now and Jim watches like he can't quite grasp what's going on as Bones puts his hands casually back into his pockets and pauses his walking. 

"You laughed and joined all the conversations. And you were the center of the god damned room. But every few minutes you would find my eyes from wherever you were in the house so you could raise your eyebrows and silently ask if I was ok. Jim you have no idea how much that meant to me. I felt safe and loved. So the flame got a little brighter but I still wasn't quite ready to fall." 

"Who would have had a baby?" Jim asks frowning as he tries to remember. 

"Some cousin. Jack maybe?" Bones suggests. 

"Oh! Emily was born around then you're right it probably was Jacks' kid. Ok sorry. Keep going," Jim says. And Bones smiles. 

"But then you did it. You really did me in then Kirk. We finished eating and cleaning up and you decided we should go for a walk. 

So you bundled me up in some overkill old coat you had with scarves and gloves and a hat and it wasn't even that cold out. 

It was beautiful, really. 

No wind. 

No clouds. 

Just a bright mild night. 

And you were still bouncing with nervous energy I mean literally bouncing as you told me stories about the stars and your childhood and the academy and just ... you." Bones stops his walking so he's standing right in front of the captains' chair now and he folds his arms over his chest and grins. 

"You wove around in zig zags while you talked all crazy with your hands and I watched you as you huffed out puffs of air and stared up at the sky all happy and bright eyed and I stopped. 

I just stopped walking. 

And you didn't even notice at first. 

But I had to stop because it was too overwhelming. Because watching you I knew I never wanted to be with anyone else in my entire life. You were it. And it scared me how POWERFUL that feeling was. Like being dragged down in an undertow and not wanting to stop it. 

I wanted to drown. 

And I never wanted you to stop talking. 

I wanted to hear it all. 

And there you were, chattering away several steps ahead of me totally oblivious to the fact that I had just fallen irreparably in love with you and you turned to ask me a question and frowned when I wasn't right behind you. And then your face lit up in this smile." 

Jim is staring silent and wide eyed at Bones now as he takes a few tiny steps closer and leans forward to rest his hands against the chairs arms on either side of him. 

"God it almost kills me just remembering it. My knees went a little weak and I think I just stared at you as you walked back. I don't even remember what question you were trying to ask me I just remember threading my fingers into your hair like I couldn't quite believe it was real and then kissing you and feeling you melt into me and feeling like I was home." Bones ends his story with a kiss on the bridge and a few people whoop out and clap at that display. When he pulls back enough to see Jim's reaction he sees that he's giving him a withering look with one eyebrow in the air. 

"I felt like 'home' Bones? Really that's what you went with just now?" he says. But Bones just smiles. 

"Well it's true. And that feeling in my chest? The flame that just kept getting bigger? What I didn't realize quite at the time was that, that wasn't me just falling' madly in love with you. That's was me feeling just incredibly *happy*. And I still feel it Jim. Every single day."

Jim looks at Bones carefully and his face softens into a smile as he reaches up to run a finger over Bones' cheek and Bones lets his eyes close at the sensation and grins. 

"Bones what the hell are you doing," Jim asks. And Bones chuckles. He reaches up to grab Jim's hand in his and he kisses his warm palm before straightening back up. 

"Well you see Jim. A few hours ago I tried to tell you how much you make me happy just by existing and lovin' me and you didn't believe me. Said I never said things like that it was quote, 'out of character' and I realized you were right. But that doesn't make THAT right Darlin' so..." he shrugs. "I decided to change that. He leans over again to kiss him and Jim sighs and grabs the front of his shirt so he can kiss him right back. 

It takes a few minutes but finally Bones pulls back and winks. 

"Get us back on track, Captain, so you can turn in for the night. I'll be waiting for you at home," Bones says with a kiss to his head as he stands up. 

"Ok Bones...oh hey wait," Jim says as he grabs Bones arm to stop him. "I thought I was your home..." he adds with a wide grin as he bats his eyelashes up at him. 

"Ok see it's things like that that'll make me regret I said any of this," Bones says. He pauses to destroy Jim's hair with his hand and walks away. "Hurry up...".


End file.
